Deputy Superintendent of Schools Adam Deleidi updated the School Committee on some of the final data from the 2022-23 school year at last week’s School Committee.
The district-wide attendance rate held fairly steady overall compared to the 2021-23 school year, according to Deleidi.
“We had some grades that increased over the previous year, and some grades that decreased over the previous year,” said Deleidi.
Grades that saw increases included 5,6,7,8,10, 11, and 12.
“I do want to highlight grade 12,” said Deleidi. “In the 2021-22 school year, we had an attendance rate of 48 percent. It increased all the way to 74.8 percent for the 22-23 school year.”
The overall attendance rate in the district for the 22-23 school year dropped one-tenth of a percent from 88.1 percent to 88 percent.
“But as I have reminded the committee many times, we had our tripledemic of Covid19, RSV, and the flu,” said Deleidi. “So to hold even was, I think, a strong accomplishment.”
During the past school year, Deleidi noted that there was an increased emphasis on increasing the ability for students to take challenging classes.
The district started an algebra program in eighth grade with 24 students at the beginning of the year and 27 students by the end.
“So we increased a little bit, and we’re happy to increase more this year,” said Deleidi.
The number of students enrolled in AP classes also increased by almost 40 students from 2021-22 to 22-23.
There was also a big jump in students enrolled in early college courses from 214 to 325 from one year to the next, Deleidi said. Dual enrollment in high school and college courses also increased from 21-22 to 22-23.
Deleidi said the district was still working on the final numbers for the graduation rate for the past school year.
“We have a sense of where it is, but we want to make sure the numbers are correct, so we have to wait on the state for that,” he said.
The deputy superintendent also reviewed the post-high school plans for the most recent graduates.
The majority of students, 55.7 percent, were planning to enter a two- or four-year college and 33.2 percent were entering directly into the workforce. Under one percent were opting for the military, 3.2 percent were taking part in a certificate program, and 5.2 percent were entering a trade school.
During the course of the past school year, Deleidi said Chelsea saw 451 students leave the district and 720 students enter the district.